


Small Comforts

by lucdarling



Category: Incredible Hulk (2008), Marvel (Movies), Thor (2011)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-27
Updated: 2012-02-27
Packaged: 2017-10-31 19:52:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/347767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucdarling/pseuds/lucdarling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes it's heroes who need a hug most of all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Small Comforts

She sees him sitting on a stool, tucked away in a corner of the lab. His white coat is thrown haphazardly over the table. To be honest, Darcy doesn't know the scientist that well, not beyond the occasional muttered greeting in the morning or late at night – apparently Jane isn't the only one to keep nocturnal hours – but he looks so forlorn, sitting alone.

Darcy drags another stool across the tile, the three wooden legs scraping loudly because she can't be bothered to pick it up. And if it announces her presence more than the onset of a sudden hug that Darcy actually wants to give the man, that's even better. She may not know Bruce Banner the person but she's more than familiar with his raging alter-persona and the shrill scream of a Code Green that reverberates in her eardrums at least twice a month. Darcy knows they aren’t the same person at all, though. She’d never find the beast who smashes cars with abandon sitting silently in the corner of his own workspace.

Bruce looks up from his contemplation of the granite flecks in the Formica countertop when Darcy settles herself on the seat next to him with a sigh. He gives a strained smile but doesn't say anything. That's okay, Darcy is used to working with introverts; even Jane can be one, when she isn't being an intense-crazy-scientist.

“What's wrong with you?” The young woman asks, jumping to the heart of it. She doesn't see the point in tact. Life is definitely too short, especially when you're a mortal working with gods and assassins and eccentric billionaires dressed up in metal suits that fly.

“My life conspires against me.” Bruce confides, rubbing a palm over his unshaven cheek with weariness. “Or my job, I can't quite tell.”

“But you're doing good here, right?” Darcy questions. She doesn't know exactly what type of science Bruce does but if S.H.I.E.L.D. is funding him, it must be worth something.

The man nods. “Yes, of course. S.H.I.E.L.D. has been more than complimentary, setting me up with this lab,” he gestures to the large room they sit in. “and they know how to handle the Hulk when he appears. I suppose it's more accurate to say my father-in-law continues to be a jackass.”

“Oh.” Darcy says. She didn't even know Bruce was married, but her eyes drift to his left hand and sure enough, there's a glint of gold shining in the fluorescent lights. “So what's wrong with him? I though in-laws were supposed to be horrific.”

“Most of them don't actively try to hunt you down,” Bruce says wryly and Darcy gasps.

“No way!” She knows her eyes widen.

“He's stopped now that I've taken up with S.H.I.E.L.D.” the man admits. “But now he's blocking all my attempts to see my wife. And the hours I keep here, between the lab and Avengers missions make it hard to see Betty in the first place.”

“What the hell?” Darcy cries in outrage. “He can't do that!”

Bruce smiles wanly, a tired expression. “She works for him. He's been scheduling her on opposite hours so we're merely ships passing in the night at home.” Darcy frowns at the image. It sounds lonely.

“Doesn't he want his daughter to be happy?”

“So long as it isn't with me,” Bruce says half-heartedly, like he's repeating words he's heard a thousand times before. Darcy feels something in her chest drop at the sad tone. She sort of wants to give him a hug; Bruce looks like he could use one, hunched in on himself as he is.

“The jerk. You're a national hero now! He totally can't do that.”

“Thank you for the vote of confidence, Ms. Lewis.” Bruce says calmly. “Unfortunately, neither the General nor most of the good old boys at the Pentagon agree with you about my second self.”

“Screw them,” Darcy mutters angrily. “They're not running out to put themselves in danger, fighting to save the Earth on a weekly basis, are they?” That earns her a soft laugh as her phone alarm beeps. “Shit, I gotta get back. Science things have a schedule of their own, well, I guess you know that.” Darcy realizes out loud. “Look, I'm always around so if you ever want someone to talk to about how much of an ass your father-in-law is, I am totally available.” She slips off her stool and stands in front of him.

Bruce nods at the words, even though Darcy doubts he'll ever take her up on them. She doesn't know why this conversation happened in the first place. “Maybe you could ask Coulson for some assistants or something, then you could duck out early and go home, surprise your wife!” Darcy smiles at the idea.

She darts in closer, throwing her arms around him quickly. A hug never hurt anyone and Darcy has seen the other scientists press themselves against the wall when he passes by in the hallway. Touch starvation is a real thing, Darcy is more than aware.

The young woman steps back after Bruce relaxes the tiniest bit in her embrace. “I'm not your wife because I heard she's like, an actual model,” Darcy blabbers, “but hugs are always good. And now, science. Right. Bye!” She exits stage left as fast as she can, before she can think about personal boundaries and how she definitely overstepped them. Bruce doesn't say anything to her retreating back.

Darcy's headphones break a few weeks later and she curses up a storm. Working with superheroes and demi-gods who don't know their own strength gets aggravating. It'll take a while to save up for a new pair, since she doesn't get paid until next week and her checking account is not quite overdrawn since New York is hell on rent. She isn't expecting a brand new headphones to be sitting on her keyboard, a sticky note on the plastic packaging when she enters the lab the next morning. The scrawled words _Music is an embrace for your ears_ make Darcy smile the rest of the day.


End file.
